What Is a General Warranty Deed? (Plain-English Guide)

A general warranty deed is the strongest deed in American property law. It transfers ownership and, more importantly, it hands the new owner a set of enforceable promises about the title that reach all the way back through the property’s history.

Whether you will ever see one depends heavily on where you are buying.

The promises inside it

What separates a general warranty deed from every other kind is a group of covenants the grantor makes. Traditionally there are six.

Covenant of seisin. The grantor states that they actually own the estate they are conveying.

Covenant of right to convey. The grantor has the legal power to transfer it, which is not always the same thing as owning it. A trustee, for example, may own without unrestricted power to sell.

Covenant against encumbrances. There are no undisclosed liens, mortgages, judgments, easements or restrictions attached to the property.

Covenant of quiet enjoyment. Nobody with a superior legal claim is going to appear and disturb the new owner’s possession.

Covenant of warranty. If such a claim does appear, the grantor will defend the title, at their expense.

Covenant of further assurances. The grantor will sign whatever additional paperwork is later needed to perfect the title.

Present covenants and future covenants

Lawyers split those six into two groups, and the distinction decides whether a claim is still alive.

Present covenants, meaning seisin, right to convey, and against encumbrances, are either true or false at the moment the deed is delivered. If one is false, it is breached immediately, and the statute of limitations starts running that day even though the new owner may not discover the problem for years.

Future covenants, meaning quiet enjoyment, warranty, and further assurances, are only breached when someone actually asserts a claim. The clock starts then, which is why they remain useful long after closing.

General versus special warranty

A general warranty deed covers the entire history of the property, including problems created by owners who held it long before the grantor was born.

A special or limited warranty deed covers only the period the grantor owned it. If a defect traces back to a prior owner, the buyer has no claim against their seller.

Special warranty deeds are standard in commercial transactions and in sales by banks, estates and institutional sellers, precisely because those sellers do not want to guarantee a history they know nothing about.

Need a deed notarized or recorded?

Every deed needs a notarized signature before a county will record it. We notarize online and file through ACRIS from intake to confirmation.

See deed recording

What this looks like in New York

If your property is in New York City, you may go through an entire purchase and never see a warranty deed.

Downstate New York overwhelmingly uses the bargain and sale deed with covenant against grantor’s acts. In that instrument the grantor promises only that they personally have not encumbered the property. It is meaningfully weaker than a general warranty deed and meaningfully stronger than a quitclaim.

Full warranty deeds appear more often in upstate transactions. So if a downstate seller offers a warranty deed, that is unusual rather than reassuring, and worth asking your attorney about.

The practical spectrum in New York, strongest to weakest, is: general warranty, bargain and sale with covenants, bargain and sale without covenants, quitclaim. See warranty deed vs quitclaim deed for the full comparison.

Why title insurance exists anyway

Here is the uncomfortable part. A warranty deed is a promise from a person, and a promise is only as good as the person behind it.

If a title defect surfaces eight years after closing, enforcing those covenants means suing your seller. That seller may have moved out of state, spent the proceeds, dissolved the LLC, gone bankrupt, or died. You would be pursuing a lawsuit against someone who may have nothing to collect, and paying your own legal fees while you do it.

A title insurance policy is a promise from a solvent, regulated company that also pays your defense costs. That is why lenders require it regardless of what the deed says, and why buyers should carry an owner’s policy even when handed the strongest deed available.

The deed and the policy are not alternatives. The deed conveys the property. The policy protects the value.

What a warranty deed does not do

It does not affect the mortgage. Transferring ownership does not remove anyone from a loan, and most mortgages contain a due on sale clause that can be triggered by a transfer.

It does not guarantee the physical condition of the house. Covenants concern title, not the roof, the boiler, or the foundation.

It does not eliminate matters disclosed and accepted in the deed itself. Easements and restrictions written into the conveyance are excluded from the promise.

And it does not take effect against the world until it is recorded.

Signing and recording

Like every deed, a general warranty deed must be signed by the grantor and acknowledged before a notary public before a county clerk will accept it. In New York City, recording runs through ACRIS, along with the state transfer tax form TP-584 and the equalization form RP-5217.

We handle deed and document recording from intake through confirmation, and the signature itself can be notarized online where the receiving county accepts it.

Frequently asked questions

Is a general warranty deed used in New York?

It is valid statewide but uncommon downstate, where the bargain and sale deed with covenants is standard practice.

Does a warranty deed guarantee there are no liens?

It promises there are no undisclosed encumbrances. If one appears, you have a claim against the grantor, which is a different thing from the lien not existing.

How long do the covenants last?

Present covenants are breached at delivery if untrue, so the limitations period runs from closing. Future covenants can be enforced whenever a claim is later asserted.

Do I still need title insurance?

Yes. A deed gives you someone to sue. A policy gives you someone who pays.

Can it be notarized online?

Often, but the county recorder decides. Confirm before booking the session.

Reading the covenants on an actual deed

On the page these promises rarely appear as a numbered list. They arrive as a paragraph of traditional language, and knowing the shape of it tells you which deed you are holding.

A full warranty typically reads that the grantor warrants and will forever defend the title against all lawful claims. A special or limited warranty narrows that to claims arising by, through or under the grantor, which is the drafting that limits it to their own period of ownership. A bargain and sale with covenants promises only that the grantor has not done or suffered anything whereby the premises have been encumbered. A quitclaim simply remises, releases and quitclaims, with no promise attached at all.

Those phrases are worth recognizing, because the title of the document is not always accurate and the operative language governs.

Deeds named after a role

You will also see deeds named for the capacity of the signer rather than the warranty given. An executor’s deed conveys from an estate, a trustee’s deed from a trust, a referee’s deed after a foreclosure sale.

These carry limited or no warranties, and that is not a red flag so much as an honest one. The person signing is acting in a role and has no personal knowledge of what happened to the property before they took it on. If you are buying through one, the deed is telling you that the due diligence sits with you and your title company.

What Is a General Warranty Deed?